Esther C Kane

Tag Archive for small business website marketing

19 Nov 2010

Small Business Internet Marketing – Reality Check

Every once in a while a client contacts me to let me know how unhappy they are with the Internet marketing of their site. Like any business, I want to make my clients happy but I also have to face the reality that I can’t possibly make everyone happy.

But I still try.

So, the first thing I do is I look at the techniques I’ve used on the site.

1) Did I put in all the coding that’s needed to market the website for specific keyword phrases?
2) Am I using the best keyword phrases?
3) Does the website have enough call to actions through it?

Then I look at the co-operation I’ve received from the client. In other words, has the client performed the recommendations I made to improve the site?

1) Is the client giving me new content to add to the site based on the new keyword phrases I give him every month?
2) Has the client begun or participating in social media sites?
3) Has the client taken any of the recommendations I have given him in the last 6 months such as adding video, signing up for press releases, etc.

There are times that I see that I did not 100% do my job. So, I do make the corrections of course. I make sure all the coding is appropriate, the keywords, etc.

But 98% of the time I can honestly say that the client has not done ANY of the requirements from his part. So, that’s like taking the car to the dealership, telling them there’s a problem with the engine but neglecting to give them the key to the car. Yes, the dealership can fix the problem, the dealership can tell you what needs to get done but in order to do any of that they need to get into the car.

The biggest mistakes small business owners make is to think of their websites as static billboards. That simply doesn’t work. Maybe it did in 1995 but it doesn’t today. The bottom line is if you want the website to work for you, you have to work on the site.

But hey, I’m not the only one strumming this chord. Steve Strauss from USA Today wrote a great article addressing these issues in an article called “What Should A Small Business’ Website Do? Check it out!

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eckweb | No comments | Tags: small business website marketing

20 Aug 2009

internet marketing • seo • small business • social media

SEO + PPC + SM = SUCCESS

Since our SEO Services are targeted towards small and home based businesses, we are often dealing with clients who have limited budgets. Most SEO firms deal with mid to large size clients so spending $5000.00 / month or more on their Internet marketing is fairly common. But mention that amount to a small or home based business and the phone hangs up (after 4 minutes of dead silence due to the shock!).

Anyway, because of the budget restraints I’m often asked which Internet marketing strategy works the best? Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Pay Per Click (PPC)? or Social Media (SM).

Truth be told, combining all three is the best strategy. It makes sense. If we were a standard advertising firm where we marketed your business via print ads, billboards, etc. we would say the same thing. If you pay me to put up 4 billboards you’ll get X amount of traffic. If you pay me to put up 4 billboards + a commercial on cable tv – you’ll get more traffic.

It’s no different on the Internet. The more you’re “out there” the more traffic you’ll get. The more traffic you get, the more the search engines like you. The more the search engines like you, the higher your ranking will be. – Of course, I don’t have to tell you that website traffic is just ONE factor that search engines look at so don’t imagine that just because you get a ton of traffic to your website that is all you need to get high in the rankings, the search engines are much smarter than that!

So, what I recommend to my small and home based business clients is to combine as much of the services as they can. If they can only afford only one then I recommend whichever option works best for them.

1) If they don’t want to do any work on their own on the website then I recommend SEO.
2) If they want immediate traffic to the website then I recommend PPC.
3) If they are willing to do some work and get involved in the marketing of their business I recommend SM.

Personally, I think Social Media (SM) is the way to go for many small and home based businesses. It’s an excellent way for them to start and if a client comes to me with an existing social media campaign, then it just makes the SEO that much easier and quicker.

So, if you’re stuck and you’re not sure which Internet marketing strategy works best for you, contact your SEO firm, they’ll advise you. If you don’t have a contract with an SEO webmaster, then contact us at Eckweb Designs, Inc. We’ll be happy to help!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.